Mikaelson Reunion
by sicklyscribe
Summary: Rebekah, Hayley, Klaus, Elijah, & Hope: the first night at the safe house. (AU where Rebekah and Klaus wait until after Christmas to take down Esther)


_I only ever break my fanfiction rules (do not write it unless it is indisputably an addition to canon, not just conjecture for the sake of amusement) for monumental occasions. _

_The Mikaelson family reunion is one of those occasions._

_Based on 'Sleeping at Last' by Light, or, as I like to call it, Hope's lullaby._

* * *

Rebekah stretched, blinking the sleep from her eyes and turning tiredly to check the time on her cell phone. Confused, she sat up quickly and looked around, just now noticing the morning light that filled the room. Hope usually woke up hungry at least twice a night. How had Rebekah slept till seven o'clock in the morning?

Her concern quickly turned to contentment as she remembered how she had left Hope the night before – in Hayley's arms. Hayley must have stayed in the nursery with Hope the whole night. Rebekah brushed off her feelings of jealousy with ease – all it took was the memory of Hayley's heartwarming reunion with Hope to make Rebekah set aside her own selfishness.

Still in her pink cotton designer pajamas, Rebekah ventured out into the hall, tip-toeing barefoot towards the last-minute nursery she and Elijah had arranged. While waiting for Klaus and Hayley, Rebekah had bought a crib and other necessities at a local department store.

Gingerly the blonde vampiress twisted the knob on the door, and peeked inside.

The first thing she saw was Hayley, curled in the rocking chair at the foot of the crib, sound asleep and covered by a fuzzy white blanket that Rebekah had seen at the store and deemed essential enough to add to her list, if only because it was fabulous and looked _so cozy_. Though that blanket had not been in the nursery the last time Rebekah had seen it…

Her heart skipped a beat as she looked at the crib.

Niklaus lay half-sitting, half-leaning against the bars, his fingers twined through to be as close as possible to his little girl. He was asleep as well, and though Rebekah thought his position looked uncomfortable, she had no doubt that her big brother had not slept so peacefully in hundreds and hundreds of years as he was sleeping now.

She tried to open the door further, but something was blocking the way. She looked down and saw a pair of legs in wrinkled black trousers, and she stifled a giggle as she realized her other big brother sat in the entry, his head resting on the side of a shelf, his eyes closed and his mouth slightly open – he was fast asleep as well. His tie hung undone over his shoulders, and his shirt was partially un-tucked.

At some point in the night her brothers had joined Hayley in the nursery, Rebekah thought with a smile, and one of them had taken the blanket from the living room to cover the Mama Wolf. Klaus had come in and fallen asleep as close as he possibly could to his little girl, and Elijah had probably stood in the doorway for hours before lowering to the ground and giving in to exhaustion. Steadfast devotees, the lot of them.

Rebekah's eyes were damp, and her cheeks ached from smiling. She could not remember ever being so happy, and she knew the same went for everyone in Hope's little nursery. She wiped her eyes and hugged herself, taking a long moment to enjoy the scene before her. Just as she was about to quietly close the door and go about making Hope's morning bottle, though, she heard a cooing little sigh.

Hope wriggled slightly and opened her blue, blue eyes – _Nik's eyes _– and Rebekah caught her breath, praying a quick prayer that Hayley and her brothers would not wake.

The infant did not cry – she found Rebekah's loving gaze and met it with an adorable yawn. "_Good morning, my love,_" Rebekah whispered under her breath.

Hope had no way of understanding, no way of knowing just how much her little existence had saved her father, her mother, her aunt and her uncle. She was far too young to realize the unimaginable light she held within her.

Hope usually woke all at once, ready for the day and demanding attention from the moment her eyes sprung open. Today, though, as if aware of her sleeping worshipers and quite content with the audience, the baby turned towards her father and fell back to sleep.


End file.
